Means for lubricating internal-combustion engines.



Patented Mar. 11,1913'.

L. RENAULT. MEANS POB LUBRIGATING INTERNAL GOMBUSTION ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED Amm, l1910.

4LOUIS RENAULT, 0F BILLANCOURT, FRANCE MEANS FOR LUBRICATING INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES. j

Specification o'f Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 11, 1913.

Application filed April 9, 1910. Serial No. 554,549.

To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, Louis RENAULT, cit1 zen of the French `Republic, residing at Billancourt, Department of the Seine,lin France, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Lubricating Internal-Combustion Engines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and eXact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

' The means heretofore employed in certain :,iotors for lubrication under pressure present various defects. In particular, the quantity of oil that escapes from the bearings as a result of the pla-y arising in them in consequence of wear increases with this Wear. This loss of oil likewise varies with the fluidity of the oil. Then again, in all motors lubricated under pressure it is found that the pressure is very considerable on starting and then diminishes. This d iminution of pressure corresponds to an increase of oil escaping between the shaft and the bearing. The result is a projection of oil along the walls of the cylinder or cylinders of the motor. Furthermore, the excess oil is burned in the explosion chambers and consequently wasted, the result being a -useless consumption of oil and the production of objectionable smoke.

Explosion motors, contrary to '.what 1s generally thecase with steam engines, are generally single acting. Consequently the direction of themotor effort is not changed and in these conditions it is not as important as in a steam engine that the oil should be kept at a certain pressure between the connecting rod and the crank journal.

In the device which forms the object of the present invention, the purpose in view has been to insurethe circulation of the oil continuously around moving parts of the motor in such a manner that the oil that enters the bearings as a result of the wear that they experience in use, does not increase in accordance with the fluidity of the oil or with the amount of wear.

f' The principle of the invention consists in [causing the oil to enter beneath the bearing and in insuring the lubrication of the shaft over its entire circumference by only allowng the oil to issue at the upper part of the bearing, the outlet being appreciably larger in cross section than the inlet so that no resistance is opposed to the egress of the oil. The return pipe is fitted to the outlet slightly above the bearing so as to maintain constant the pressure represented by this small 'column of liquid.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing.

Figure 1 is a vertical axial section of a portion of an explosion motor. Fig. 2 is a cross section of the same. y

A pump l arranged at the lower part of the crank case 2 and driven automatically' by the motor (for example by means of an endless screw 3v mounted upon the distrib- `utin g shaft and actuating a pinion 4 lmotilited upon the pump shaft) takes the oil from the lower part of the crank case, after it has been filtered through a sieve 5, and forces it through a distributing pipe G and a series of passages 7 8, etc.. to each of the bearings of the motor. Each of these passages 7 opens at the lower part of the bearing that it supplies; thence the oil spreads in an annular passage 9 surrounding the bearing -10 which it Itraverses through a certain number of orifices 11. In this manner it reaches the driving shaft 12. The oil in excess escapes through the orifice 13 formed at the upper part of the bearing, the diameter of this orifice being appreciably larger' than that of thcA pipe 7; it flows freely through a conduit 14 and through a pipe 15 which is likewise much larger in'cross section than the pipe 7, and then returns to the crank case. The oil that escapes at the end of the bearings is projected by centrifugal foice into the grooves 16 in the collars fixed t0 the crank shaft and it provides for the lubrication of the connecting rod heads 18 by meansV of passages such as 17.

I claim:

l. The combination with a shaftj ournal, of a bearing surrounding the same, saidbearing provided with radial ducts adapted to conduct lubricant to the journal of the shaft, an annular space* surrounding said bearing, an oil supply pipe leading to said annular space, a return pipe oflarger diameter than said supply pipe to conduct the oil from said annular space, said lreturn pipe having a vertical portion adjacent the bearing to retain a column of oil that is fed to the shaft journal, and means to circulate the oil through said pipes.

2. The combination with a shaft journal,

bearing, an annular chamber adjacent said' annular space and adapted to catch the leal;- age of oil therefrom for further lubrication of the parte, an oil supply pipe leading to Said annular Space, a return pipe of larger diameter than said supply pipe to conduct the oil from said annular space, said return pipe having avertical portion adjacent the bearing to retain a column of oil that is fed to the shaft journal, and means to circulate the oil through said pipes.

` 3. The combination With a shaft journal, or' a hearing surrounding the same, said bearing provided with radial ducts adapted annular space, a return pipe of larger di.

ameter than said supply pipe to conduct the oil from said annular space, said return pipe having means to retain a column ofA oil that is fed to the shaft journal, andv means to circulate the oil through said pipes. In testimony whereof I affix my-signature, inv presence of tWo Witnesses.

y LOUIS RENAULT.

Witnesses: H. C. Coxn,

EMILE Knox.

@epica ci patent may ne obtained for lve cents cach, by addressinuthe Commissioner of Patente,

` Washington, D. C. 

